Home Care

KWA Workers and Management Reach an Agreement!!!

Tuesday, March 9

We’ve tentatively agreed on a new home care worker contract with the Korean Women’s Association. The worker/members of our KWA Bargaining Team all strongly urge our brothers and sisters to VOTE YES on the KWA Contract.
Here’s why we should all vote yes:

• Real Training– By voting yes, you can look forward to 21st century training by the SEIU Healthcare NW Training Partnership . KWA officials had locked workers out of the Training Partnership . They were trying to keep half of the money they were getting from the state that was supposed to go directly to the Training Partnership. We said NO!
• No Pay Cut– By voting yes, KWA will pay all L&I (workers’ compensation) expenses. KWA officials proposed making workers pay 30 cents for every hour worked. We said NO!
• Mileage Reimbursement– By voting yes, if you have more than one client, you will still get reimbursed for mileage. KWA officials proposed taking it away. We said NO!

Showing strength and unity won us a fair contract. Let’s show real strength – take time to vote yes on our contract.

(Stay tuned for details on the contract, and when and where you can vote.)

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Cathy Byrd, David Lindberg, Ivy Williams and Flash Scaff, Jr. Deliver 14,000 Signatures to Key Budget Writers in Olympia

Monday, March 1

Four home care workers - Cathy Byrd, David Lindberg, Ivy Williams and Flash Scaff, Jr.- spoke for 14,000 in Olympia when they delivered names of members who support raising revenue and preventing cuts to home care and other critical long-term care services. We collected the names in two big binders and delivered them to key budget decision makers. Since home care workers don't have a common workplace, the petition “signed” virtually or over the phone.


Video



We met with Speaker of the House Frank Chopp; Representative Kelli Linville (Chair, House Ways and Means Committee); Representative Eric Pettigrew (Chair, House Health and Human Services Appropriations Committee); Representative Eileen Cody (Chair, House Health and Wellness Committee); Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown and Marty Loesch (Governor Gregoire’s Director of Outreach and General Counsel). We also delivered books to the offices of Senator Margarita Prentice (Chair, Senate Ways and Means Committee); Senator Rodney Tom (Vice Chair, Operating Budget, Senate Ways and Means Committee); and Senator Karen Keiser (Chair, Senate Health and Long-Term Care Committee).

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Working Together with (Almost All) of Our Home Care Employers in Olympia

Tuesday, February 16

We held our most successful home care quarterly employers meeting to date on February 16th. Eight of our nine Washington home care agencies attended, with the anti-union management of Korean Women’s Association being the only exception.

Employer representatives were particularly engaged in discussions around Legislative strategy, our home and community-based services provider tax bill, rule making around home care certification and testing fees. Many also committed to weighing in the Department of Health rulemaking process to create a fair certification and exam system for the new training standards that are set to begin in 2011.

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$400 Million In Higher Wages & Benefits For Home Care Workers

Over the last five years, by uniting together with SEIU Healthcare 775NW and holding politicians accountable, home care workers have won $400 million in higher wages and benefits for home care workers. In March, the legislature approved funding for our new union contract for individual provider home care workers and funding for agency caregivers as well. Under the new contract individual provider caregivers will see wages increase to $9.73 in July 2007 and $10.03 in July 2008, and thousands of hours that were unfairly cut because of the Shared Living Rule will be restored in October 2007.

Before the union came, I was making just over minimum wage with no benefits. With our contract, we've gotten a 40% pay increase since we got the union and our starting pay is over $10/hour. We also have worker's compensation, health, dental, and vision and insurance and paid vacations!

– Janet Rodriguez, home care worker